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We're having a really unpleasant problem with a cat (at least we assume it's a cat - we haven't actually caught it in the act) defecating on our front door mat. It used to happen occasionally, then became more and more frequent, to the point where last weekend we resorting to throwing away the doormat, thoroughly cleaning the front of the house and liberally applying the product 'scoot'. This stopped the behaviour for about a week but yesterday it happened again - this time in broad daylight when it previously happened mostly at night or early in the morning. I'm really at my wit's end, it's absolutely revolting and we can't afford to buy a new doormat every week. Does anyone have any experience getting cats to stop this sort of behaviour? Unfortunately we live in an urban area with lots of cats, including a number of spraying tomcats who I suspect are responsible for this as well. We don't have a pet ourselves as my OH is allergic.

Could you set up a camera to keep watch so that when you eventually spot the guilty party you could perhaps set off some sort of water spray? Yes it might take some setting up and a little patience but think of the satisfaction...

Could you set up a camera to keep watch so that when you eventually spot the guilty party you could perhaps set off some sort of water spray? Yes it might take some setting up and a little patience but think of the satisfaction...

I'd go with the suggestion of removing the outdoor mat, at least for a while. Hopefully you can break the habit of the offending cats, and then return it. But you could get a mat just inside your door for a few weeks.

You also need to thoroughly clean the area. I know you said you have, but did you use bleach? Bleach, and "...with bleach" cleaning products will contain ammonia. This smells almost exactly like cat wee, and will actually encourage cats to go there. I suggest using something like "Wee Away", or similar pet odour and stain remover. It's not hugely expensive. But if you don't want to buy any, try something like washing up liquid to clean it.

Once it's thoroughly clean, you can make the area smell very unattractive. Cats generally hate the smell of citrus. You can buy citronella sprays, or I used lemon essential oil (dirt cheap on amazon). As it's outside, you can apply pretty liberally, and keep applying every day as the smell with wear or wash off.

My cat took about a week to lose interest in weeing on that spot. So I would keep applying the citrus smell for at least that long. One last thing, if your outside mat is a coir type mat (hairy bristles), they can often mimic an area where a cat would naturally go. I would swap to a rubber mat. Not so great at cleaning boots, but much less attractive to cats.

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